The Best Books I've Read (or Listened to) So Far in 2022, and How They've Helped My Writing

The best way to become a better writer is through reading, so I have more or less completely given up watching television and have plunged myself into books after finally figuring out how to use my Libby account. I credit my wife, Julie Calidonio, for convincing me to try audiobooks as well. I never thought I would like them, but now I'm addicted to them. I've found audiobooks in particular have been extremely helpful for me to pick up techniques that other authors use and to try to find ways to implement them in my own work.

• THE FAITHFULS by Cecilia Lyra: I read this book as I flew home from New York on New Year's Day and devoured it in one sitting. This novel was quite ambitious, with a multi-POV perspective from a wide range of characters. Among many things, this novel included a female character who loved two men in different ways, which resonated with me because the love interest in THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN I'VE NEVER MET faces the same situation. Cece's description of her character's dilemma helped me get inside the head of my own character better, and make her situation and her actions more realistic on the page.

• THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin: Sometimes you read a book and it helps you realize what you're not, and what you don't even aspire to be. I thought this novel could be a potential comp because it involves a psychic and premonitions about death, both of which feature prominently in THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN I'VE EVER MET. However, Chloe Benjamin's style is far more literary than mine, and I saw that almost immediately from the opening chapter. It took me longer to get into the story, but I still enjoyed the novel and would recommend it. The novel explores some darker themes like the early days of the AIDS epidemic, suicide, etc., which was not what I was expecting coming in, but was very well done. Perhaps someday I could aspire to write something like THE IMMORTALISTS, but that's not where my current talents lie.

• PEOPLE YOU MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry: I've used this as a potential comp for THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN I'VE NEVER MET, because of the Millennial angst of the protagonist and the playful banter between the characters. It's not the most perfect comp, because this novel is a friends-to-lovers story, which my manuscript is not, but it does capture some of the same elements. The plot to this novel wasn't the most compelling, but the author's writing style did help me figure out how to add more flavor and emotion to my work and replace mundane sentences with things that have more pop.

• ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman: This is another writer whose style I could or would never possibly hope to emulate, but this novel was absolutely hysterical and was written in a style unlike anything I've ever read. When I was finished, the first thing I wanted to do was to go back and read it again, but my TBR list was far too long at that point to justify it. The way that he slowly reveals information to the reader and turns your assumptions on your head as he peels the layers on the onion is sheer genius. On a side note, it's absolutely incredible to me how Netflix butchered the film adaptation. If I could give this book six stars, I would.

• DIAL A FOR AUNTIES by Jesse Q. Sutanto: I wouldn't consider this to be the most well-written novel I've consumed this year, but it's not short on laughs and leans into its absurd premise. It's a fun book that I would highly recommend to anyone who has a sense of humor, but I'm not sure that it did much to influence my writing style.

• THE UNHONEYMOONERS by Christina Lauren: My current work-in-progress, tentatively titled LOVE/HATE THY NEIGHBOR, is an enemies-to-lovers trope romantic comedy, so reading THE UNHONEYMOONERS was helpful in picking up ways to build that tension between the two main characters and then have it transition into something else.

• THE ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Simison: If ANXIOUS PEOPLE was the best book I've read this year, THE ROSIE PROJECT is a close second. I've been using it as a comp in my most recent query attempts, because it has a male narrator with a unique voice and focuses on the comedy side as much if not more than the romantic side. The protagonist in THE ROSIE PROJECT is more over-the-top and undiagnosed neurodivergent, which may make it an inappropriate comp, but I think the tone is similar enough that my use is justified. This novel is laugh-out-loud hysterical, which is what I'm hoping to achieve as well.